1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a material handling lift gate and, more particularly, to a self contained material handling lift gate capable of standalone or networked configuration for allowing a user ingress and/or egress through long conveyor runs or from conveyor loops.
2. Background Description
Material handling is important in many industries such as, for example, the airline industry, the freight industry as well as the postal industry. In these applications, a conveyor system is implemented in order to move or convey items from one location to another such as throughout a warehouse and the like. These conveyor systems automate the material handling practices of a particular industry which, in turn, reduces costs as well as much of the heavy lifting which would otherwise be left for manual labor.
In current practice, the conveyer system includes a plurality of drive rollers which carry the items throughout the conveyor system. As can be imagined, the drive rollers must be aligned in a continuous, seamless system thus enabling the packages or other items to be conveyed between two or more mutually remote locations. Thus, in larger applications such as in distribution centers, these systems can have very long conveyor runs and, in some instances, create a land-locked area within a conveyor loop. In either of these situations, it may be difficult for an operator or other user to gain access to within the conveyor loop or around a conveyor system in cases of long conveyor runs. Likewise, once an operator or other user is within the conveyer loop, for example, that person may also have difficultly in exiting from within the conveyor loop.
In these cases, a user or other personnel may either crawl underneath the conveyor system or climb over the conveyor system. To do this, the conveyor system should be xe2x80x9cshut downxe2x80x9d for safety reasons. However, shutting down the system may cause delays, bottlenecks and a host of other potential problems. Of course, it is not advisable nor recommended to climb over or crawl underneath such a system without taking every precaution such as shutting down the system. Also, such maneuvering may still not be possible by certain people who cannot crawl or climb over the conveyor due to a host of medical or other reasons.
On the other hand, a user may walk a very long distance in order to get around a long conveyor run. This method, safer than the previously mentioned methods, is time consuming and, in cases of very long conveyor runs, is not very practical. Also, there may be instances when an operator needs to immediately exit from the conveyor system due to a host of mechanical or other potential problems. In these cases, it is not even possible for the operator to walk around a long conveyor run due to certain time constraints imposed by such a mechanical problem or other emergency. However, at the present state of the art no structure facilitates quick and convenient crossing of a conveyer line to accommodate various different conveyor systems.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to solve the problems of known conveyor systems as described above.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a material handling lift gate which allows for easy ingress and egress from a conveyor loop or a long conveyor run.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a material handling lift gate which is adaptable to either a standalone configuration or used in an existing conveyor system network.
It is also another object of the present invention to provide a material handling lift gate which ensures the safety of the user and the well being of the packages and/or items being conveyed on the conveyor system during ingress and egress.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a material handling lift gate which provides a mechanism for stopping the transportation of an item and/or clearing all items on the lift gate of the conveyer system during ingress and egress without significant interruption.
The present invention is directed to a material handling system and, more particularly, to a conveyer system with a lift gate mechanism. In a first aspect of the invention a material handling lift gate has a plurality of adjustable, telescoping vertical legs. The plurality of adjustable, telescoping vertical legs are adjustable and fixable to different conveyance heights. The system further includes opposing horizontal side rails hingedly mounted to an upper end of a pair of the plurality of adjustable, telescoping vertical legs or proximate thereto. The opposing horizontal side rails are positionable between a first closed position and a second open position. Drive rollers are disposed between the opposing horizontal rails and are adapted to transport items thereon.
In another aspect of the present invention, a material handling lift gate includes a plurality vertical legs and opposing horizontal side rails hingedly mounted to an upper end of a pair of the plurality of vertical legs or proximate thereto. Drive rollers are disposed between the opposing horizontal rails. A lift gate clear controller for controlling package movement into and out of the material handling lift gate via control of the drive rollers is also provided.